


A Ghost Child (And The Problems Therein)

by CalicoPudding



Series: Law of the Land [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Agender Character, Agender Kageyama Tobio, Agender Kunimi Akira, Alternate Universe, Angst, Backstory, Childhood, Crying, Destruction, Earth Magic, Family, Flowers, Forests, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Kinda, Leaving Home, M/M, Magic, Spirits, Teaching, Water Magic, air magic, parental figures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:50:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8289745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalicoPudding/pseuds/CalicoPudding
Summary: Oikawa’s never had a family before. Wind Spirits are fairly nomadic beings, they don’t settle and form provinces, and they certainly don’t end up living with earth aligned spirits. But here he is, with a partner and a manifestation. A family of sorts he never expected to have.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently up to my eyes in medication because I'm sick, and my 'L' key is still acting stupid, but I wanted to get this up. Here's Kageyama's backstory!

Bright eyes, blue and full of stars, stare back at him from the hollow of a tree. They’re glowing, casting light about the hollow, and throwing shadows across the spirit’s face.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Iwaizumi says softly. He can’t read any emotion in the spirit’s eyes, but he can see the tremble in their lips and the way they’re gripping their knees. Iwaizumi’s not entirely sure what they’re doing in a tree hollow. True enough, most spirits do make their night stays in hollows, this one seems a little strange, maybe it’s because of the glowing flowers growing around the exposed roots.

“My name is Iwaizumi,” he says.

The spirit nods slowly, but doesn’t move otherwise.

“What’s your name?” Slowly, Iwaizumi sits down on the ground, trying to make himself appear smaller.

“I-” The spirit shakes their head, frustrated. Their eyes furrow, the glowing dims slightly before they open their mouth again. “Kageyama, I think.”

They think? Spirits know their names when they manifest, or they choose one for themselves. Some even do so continuously through their long, seemingly unending, lives. But this one can’t remember, surely they’d choose a new one then.

Unless of course, they aren’t necessarily a spirit.

They do look a little young. Most manifested spirits appear almost entirely physically matured, some a little less. But this one looks like a child.

That may be the answer then.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Kageyama.”

He holds out his hand, waiting for the child to take it. When they do, Iwaizumi helps them out of the hollow, standing up straight to pull them to their feet.

Kageyama is short, much shorter than Iwaizumi originally thought. They only come up to his ribs, but the glowing from their petals gives them a greater presence.

“Are you lost?” Iwaizumi asks, kneeling down so Kageyama doesn’t have to look up to see him.

“No.”

“Looking for someone?”

“No.”

“Do you have a province?”

Kageyama gives him a look that says they have no idea what a province is. They’re the first manifestation that Iwaizumi’s seen, so maybe it makes a little bit of sense that they wouldn’t know.

“It’s just myself and another, but we have a province, if you’d like a family? That’s pretty much what a province is, a group of spirits who stay together. More will show up eventually, I’m sure, so our family will grow in time.” Iwaizumi settles his hands on Kageyama’s shoulders. The child nods and Iwaizumi offers them a reassuring smile.

“Okay then, it’s in this direction,” he gestures down the path he’d been walking before finding Kageyama, and stands up.

The two of them begin walking, Kageyama’s small hand in Iwaizumi’s much larger one. Their eyes continue to glow, and they occasionally squeeze Iwaizumi’s hand, as if in reassurance that he’s still there.

About halfway to the main clearing, Kageyama stumbles.

“Tired?” Iwaizumi asks.

Kageyama just nods, and Iwaizumi carries them the rest of the way.

* * *

Oikawa’s dealt with Iwaizumi bringing creatures to their hollows before. Iwaizumi’s brought injured bears, rodents, birds, practically every species and subspecies in the forest. He always ignores Oikawa’s request that they not be brought into the hollow, find a different one, or keep them outside. But Iwaizumi doesn’t listen. Too many times Oikawa’s come back to see Iwaizumi treating an animal; sleeping against a deer with an injured foreleg, or sitting with a rabbit with a broken foot.

But when he arrives at their hollow to find Iwaizumi with a small child in his arms; his jaw drops. Iwaizumi’s cradling them, humming softly as he runs his hand through their hair. The spirit child is fast asleep, a faint glow from their flowers pulses with their breath.

“What the hell?”

“Oikawa, hush, they’re sleeping,” Iwaizumi says, running his hands through the child’s hair to still them.

They aren’t a human child, that much is certain. The flowers give them away, blue and numerous, they speak to a forest manifestation. It wouldn’t be strange under other circumstances, but this child is different. Spirits don’t manifest looking so young, and what’s more, this spirit has skin that is thin and tinted blue.

“I was doing my perimeter check,” Iwaizumi says, “They were huddled in a tree hollow, eyes glowing.”

“So you- what convinced them to come with you?”

“They have no one.”

“Why are they so small?”

“I don’t think they’re a normal spirit.”

Oikawa sits down, leaning almost obnoxiously close to the child. How can they not be a spirit? They have the flowers, obvious indicators of a forest manifestation. They could just easily be small, it’s not entirely unheard of.

“What then?”

“A ghost child,” Iwaizumi says after a moment. “When I asked them their name, they couldn’t remember their own name for a moment. Most spirits name themselves. But Kageyama had to think to remember theirs. But it’s their eyes, Oikawa you won’t believe what they look like until you see them.”

The news isn’t comforting.

Ghost children are something of an anomaly, and Oikawa’s only heard of two others in his terribly long life. They are very nearly exactly what their name implies; the ghosts of children who died, in this case, in the forest. Kageyama was a human at some point, long ago, and now they’ve become a spirit. One that has no specific elemental alignment. One that will grow from a child into a proper spirit presentation then stop there. One that will be able to change how they age.

Oikawa doesn’t know what to think. Of the two he’s heard of, one became unstable and died, while the other had to be killed because of how dangerous they got.

“Hajime-”

“They’re still a manifestation,” Iwaizumi says softly, sparing a hand to reach for Oikawa. “We’re the Old Spirits, remember? This is our province, and we’re supposed to take care of the spirits here.”

“Okay, fine. I get to be the first to teach them though.”

* * *

Kageyama’s a fast learner. They take all that Oikawa is willing to teach them, soaking up each lesson like sunlight.

They’re in a clearing, Kageyama on their stomach, fingers buried into the dirt. Their, apparently, perpetually glowing eyes are squeezed shut. Oikawa kneels beside them, staring at the slim stem pushing its way up into the air.

He enjoys teaching Kageyama, if only for the look of pure amazement he receives. He and Iwaizumi take turns. Oikawa will teach wind and forest magic for a little while, before Iwaizumi teaches the ghost child earth magic. It’s all rather comforting.

Oikawa’s never had a family before. Wind Spirits are fairly nomadic beings, they don’t settle and form provinces, and they certainly don’t end up living with earth aligned spirits. But here he is, with a partner and a manifestation. A family of sorts he never expected to have.

He doesn’t want to let them go any time soon.

Kageyama opens their eyes, breathing in deeply before turning their gaze to Oikawa.

That’s another thing he’d not been expecting. When Iwaizumi told him about Kageyama’s eyes, Oikawa thought he was exaggerating. Kageyama’s eyes are something to behold. Always with a blue base, they seem to change on a daily basis; swirling shades from blue to white, the night sky glittering with stars, shimmery pools of water, they were only slightly off putting.

“Very good,” he says, tussling Kageyama’s hair.

The flower is fully formed, petals unfurled, curled lightly towards the sky at its ends. The blossom is light blue, highlighted in greens and varying shades of white. Oikawa’s never seen a one like it, which means Kageyama has made their own, a new breed of flower.

The ghost child practically glows at the praise and goes right back to work, trying to keep their eyes open this time.

By the time they’re satisfied, Kageyama has about a dozen flowers before them. They look up at Oikawa, waiting for some kind of praise, and Oikawa gives it with a nod of his head. Kageyama jumps up, assisted by a short burst of wind and hovers lightly before standing firm on the ground.

“Keep that up and you’ll have a whole field some day.” Oikawa misses the spark that ignites in Kageyama’s eyes, but he does notice the slight pulse in their glow.

The two return to the heart of the province, where Iwaizumi is dealing with a particularly crabby bear.

Kageyama runs over, short legs negated by the slight breeze pushing them forward. They slow down when they notice the bear looking at them. Iwaizumi says something to her, Oikawa never was able to pick up on animal speak, and she puts her head down. He gestures for Kageyama to come closer, holding out his hand for them.

Oikawa hangs back and watches Kageyama crouch at Iwaizumi’s side. Iwaizumi keeps a steady conversation with the bear and Kageyama gives him the same wide eyed look they give Oikawa when he teaches them something new.

It’s nearly endearing

Kageyama doesn’t talk much, when they do it’s in short bursts of rapid fire questions, usually directed at Oikawa. They listen intently to Iwaizumi and the bear, before hesitantly breathing out a soft rumble. The bear looks up at them, huffing before growling something at Iwaizumi.

Whatever it is, it makes Iwaizumi laugh.

Done with observing, Oikawa drifts over and settles himself at Iwaizumi’s other side, leaning against him. Iwaizumi plays translator for the bear and the four of them talk until the sun starts to set.

* * *

Oikawa watches from the high branches.

Ghost children can’t wield full control over all the elements, they just have a choice few talents from each. From what Oikawa and Iwaizumi can figure, Kageyama’s nearly proficient in offensive wind magic, but their earth magic is limited to tremors and animal speak. It’s impressive regardless, but Iwaizumi’s a slight bit disappointed because he can’t teach Kageyama proper earth magic.

Kageyama’s picked up on that though.

They stand in front of the Old Spirit, a bundle of their personal flowers in hand. They’re still short, only coming up to the bottom of Iwaizumi’s ribs, so they press up onto their toes in order to shove the flowers into his face. They’re not glowing so much as they are soaked in blue light. Kageyama’s face is one set in stubborn determination, Oikawa thinks it’s because they’re trying to look mature.

Iwaizumi lets out a rumbling chuckle, soft tremors rocking the earth beneath him, before he accepts the flowers and ruffles Kageyama’s hair.

“Thank you very much, Kageyama.” He turns to Oikawa, having already picked up on his presence, “Oikawa, come look.”

Oikawa floats down and hovers behind Iwaizumi so he’s half over the Old Spirit’s shoulder.

“Kageyama grew these for me.”

“Tobio,” Kageyama says, their glow fading to a light blue, as opposed to the darker, condensed shade.

“What?” Oikawa asks, looking up from the flowers.

“Tobio,” they repeat, “That’s my name, I think, Kageyama Tobio. It feels right.”

It’s quiet in the clearing, not a sound. Iwaizumi drops to his knees so he’s more or less at their level.

“Hajime,” he says simply.

“Tooru.”

Tobio looks up with a soft smile and their glow brightens.

* * *

“Do you think they get lonely?” Iwaizumi asks.

He and Oikawa sit against a rock wall near the base of Iwaizumi’s mountain. Tobio is otherwise occupied with a curiously colored butterfly, they’ve taken to chasing it around the small clearing. They’ve grown some, physically aged a few years over the decades.

“They have us,” Oikawa says simply.

“Yes, but-”

“They don’t need anyone else.”

“Tooru,” Iwaizumi starts, a note of concern in his voice, “I’m not suggesting we send them off to find more manifestations. I’m just wondering if they’re lonely with just us. We aren’t exactly close to their age, we’re Old Spirits, and Tobio’s a ghost child, it’s different.”

Oikawa sighs, wringing his hands, and nods.

“What do you suggest?” he asks at last.

“Just that we keep an eye out for other manifestations, it’s around the proper time for them to be showing up.”

“It’s a big forest.”

“That just means we’ll get a bigger family.”

Oikawa likes that idea.

* * *

Iwaizumi’s worries are quelled soon enough.

Two new spirits wander in, a wind aligned spell caster named Kunimi, and a water aligned spirited named Kindaichi. Tobio stays close to Iwaizumi, keeping their glow dim like it will detract attention.

Iwaizumi stays with Tobio, and Oikawa goes to speak with the two newcomers. They appear to be around Tobio’s age, if their spirit songs are anything to go by. He thinks it will be good for Tobio, to have friends. It will be good for Oikawa too. Iwaizumi knows that wind spirits rarely settle, and they certainly don’t start provinces in forests, but Oikawa is a special case.

“Tobio,” Iwaizumi sets his hand on their head, “I think Oikawa’s done talking, why don’t you help them find a hollow?”

Tobio bites their lip but nods.

Iwaizumi watches as Tobio introduces themself, using just ‘Kageyama’ and mumbles something about the hollows in the clearing.

Despite the years, Tobio will occasionally forgo sleeping in their hollow to stay up with Iwaizumi and Oikawa, usually whenever they’re feeling anxious about something, or when they remember something about their human life.

“I’m sorry Hajime,” Oikawa says, coming to stand by him, his eyes fixed on the three manifestations wandering about the clearing.

“For what?”

“They’re not earth aligned,”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I can still apologize though.” Oikawa sighs, a powerful breeze blowing past as he exhales.

“Something troubling you?” Iwaizumi asks, looking down at the grass dying beneath Oikawa’s feet.

“These two aren’t like Tobio. What if the three of them don’t get along? What if they hate each other?”

“I think we’ll be fine. Tobio and Kunimi can bond over wind magic, and I’m sure that Tobio will work up the courage to ask Kindaichi about water magic.”

“Will that make them unstable? Learning a third alignment?”

“They’re a ghost child, Tooru, they’ll be fine.”

* * *

They’re fine.

For a while anyways.

The three manifestations get along quite well for a few decades. Oikawa teaches Tobio and Kunimi, while Iwaizumi takes Kindaichi to see Manami for water magic lessons. Whenever they return, Tobio pesters Kindaichi until he shows them what he’s learned.

That’s where the trouble usually starts.

Tobio is learning faster than before, they don’t quite understand that not everyone can do what they can. They’re the only ghost child, the only one with multiple alignments.

They grow Oikawa a whole field of their special flowers; to impress him, and thank him. They give one to Kindaichi, and another to Kunimi, Iwaizumi gets a whole bouquet. They learn how to sense vibrations, much to Iwaizumi’s enjoyment, and later figures out how to hear spirit songs. They can ride breezes for a short time, direct wind, float, all that Oikawa has taught them. They’ve gone to see Manami too, after Kindaichi got frustrated with their constant questions, and Tobio figured out weather sensing, and breathing underwater.

Tobio doesn’t understand.

It’s a little frustrating for Oikawa too.

Tobio has a strong alignment to air, and after a couple hundred years, Oikawa’s run out of things to teach them. It’s concerning, the power that Tobio is gaining, it reminds Oikawa of all the stories he’s heard about ghost children.

And they just keep getting stronger.

* * *

Tobio sits with Iwaizumi on a short outcropping, wringing their hands. Their glow has been an unsteady pulse for the past few weeks, faltering and sporadic.

“What’s so bad about being a ghost child?” they ask after a few minutes of tense silence.

“Nothing,” Iwaizumi says immediately.

Tobio gives him a look that says they don’t believe him.

“Nothing really,” he amends, “I’ve only heard of a few ghost children, and it’s never ended well for them.”

“What happened?”

“They die. They either become unstable and die, or have to be killed because the power they hold is too dangerous.”

“I have to be killed?”

“No,” Iwaizumi almost shouts, taking in Tobio’s anxious look and teary eyes, “I didn’t mean it like that. The ones that have been killed tried to do bad things, that’s the only reason.”

Tobio is quiet for a little while before their glow disappears completely.

“I don’t want to be like that.”

* * *

Kunimi and Kindaichi don’t talk to Tobio as much as they used to, Iwaizumi finds this a little troubling. He waits until Tobio’s gone to see Manami, and Oikawa is out on patrol, to ask.

“They’re too much,” Kindaichi huffs, crossing his arms and looking away.

“He means they expect too much,” Kunimi says, “Kageyama gets frustrated because we can’t do what they can.”

Iwaizumi decides to wait until Tobio comes back, the four of them, five is Oikawa arrives by then, can sort this all out. He knows that Tobio is more powerful than them, knows that there are things that ghost children can do that normal spirits can’t, but this little family is important to him.

Oikawa returns soon enough, but the hours drag until night falls and Tobio still isn’t back yet. Iwaizumi calls a few birds and tells them to fly down to Manami’s main river, to see if Tobio’s there.

They’re not.

Iwaizumi takes Kunimi, Oikawa goes with Kindaichi, and they split up to look for Tobio.

“Kageyama isn’t a regular spirit,” Kunimi says once they’ve been walking about twenty minutes. They float beside him, very rarely does Kunimi actually walk, and Iwaizumi doesn’t know what to say.

“They’re not.”

“I figured,” Kunimi sighs, floating up higher so they can see into the trees.

“Why do you bring it up?” Iwaizumi sends another tremor through the ground, trying to find Tobio’s signature.

“I worry that they’ll become unstable.”

Before Iwaizumi can respond, Kunimi breezes forward a short ways, stopping suddenly.

“Found them,” they say easily.

It’s not the fact that Tobio’s in the same hollow Iwaizumi found them in all that time ago, but what’s happened to the clearing that’s surprising.

The trees have all been knocked down, roots up in the air. The grass is dead, flowers wilted, and Iwaizumi can’t feel any animals in the immediate area. It’s quiet save for the sporadic sobbing coming from Tobio’s hollow.

“I’ll go get Kindaichi and Oikawa,” Kunimi says, hovering away before Iwaizumi can nod.

Iwaizumi kneels down at the opening of the hollow.

“Tobio.”

Their head snaps up, eyes glowing white like Iwaizumi’s never seen. The wind picks up, Iwaizumi’s only felt it like this when Oikawa gets frustrated. But Tobio isn’t Oikawa, they’re a ghost child with a real chance of instability if Iwaizumi doesn’t do something.

“Tobio,” he says again, holding out his hand, “What happened?”

Tobio just shakes their head, tears pouring down their cheeks.

Iwaizumi reaches into the hollow and lifts them out with ease. Tobio’s not so short anymore, but they’re still small than Iwaizumi.

He hears the wind kick up even more, hears Oikawa’s spirit song, and knows it’s not going to end well.

Kunimi and Kindaichi hang back, staying to the edge of the clearing while Oikawa drifts closer.

“What happened?” he whispers, eyes fixed on the fallen trees.

“I don’t know,” Iwaizumi answers, seeing as Tobio is still crying.

No, this won’t go well at all.

* * *

It doesn’t happen again for the longest time, but Tobio withdraws. They stay in their hollow, or disappear for a few days. They stop practicing with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, stop going to see Manami, even stop talking to Kindaichi and Kunimi after a while.

A few years later, Tobio wakes Iwaizumi, kneeling at the opening of his hollow.

“Did something happen?” Iwaizumi asks.

“I have a question.”

It must be serious if Tobio can’t wait until morning.

“Okay, what is it?”

“Do spirits _have_ to stay in provinces?”

“What?”

Iwaizumi sits straight up, disturbing Oikawa and waking him.

“What’s going on?” he asks, rubbing his eyes.

“Tobio wants to leave.”

* * *

They know Oikawa won’t let them go, knows how important the province is to him. But they’re dangerous, they killed a clearing. They’re a ghost child, and ghost children die, Iwaizumi told them as much.

So Tobio gives Oikawa a reason to make them leave.

They wipe out a small section of trees, resulting in a rockslide that dams up one of Manami’s rivers. Their point isn’t totally driven home until they kill the flower field they’d grown for Oikawa so many years ago.

Iwaizumi tries to fix the situation, Oikawa takes their actions to mean that they don’t actually _want_ to be a part of the province.

He’s wrong, Tobio wants a family, but it’s not going to work. Kunimi and Kindaichi don’t like them, and they’re a threat to what Oikawa’s worked so hard to build.

It’s easier like this.

Tobio leaves.

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah. This is the reason Oikawa has such an issue with Kyoutani in 'The Half Beast' it's kind of a hodgepodge of stuff concerning Kageyama, which he covers up with 'but he's gonna destroy the forest'. Because that's what made Kageyama leave, the capability to hurt the forest turned into guilt and the feeling that they were too dangerous, and Oikawa doesn't want that for Kyoutani. He's just not totally super at portraying that point.  
> If you've got questions, ask them!


End file.
